Aside from being the chief inventor of Gatorade and a professor of renal medicine at the University of Florida, Dr. Robert Cade had diverse interests.
He was a poet, a musician, a collector of antique violins, and a car buff who restored more than 60 Studebaker cars and carriages, some from the 19th century.
His notable medical research included work on lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and connections between specific foods and autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia.
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Construction of the museum is expected to start in October.
Photo by: Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention |
Cade was also an inventor with credits for additional beverages, from a milk protein drink called Go! to a mix of beer and Gatorade called Hop’n Gator (“the Lemon-Lime Lager”), which was discontinued after Gatorade sued the brewery marketing the odd concoction.
Cade died in 2007. To honor him, money is being raised to develop the Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention in Gainesville, Fla., home to Cade and the University of Florida.
Cade’s daughter, Phoebe Cade Miles, founded the museum in 2004. She said $5.3 million in cash and pledges of the $7 million needed to build the 21,000-square-foot facility has been raised, with construction planned to begin in 2016 and to take 12 to 16 months to complete.
“My dad talked for years about showing the story of American innovation through his car collection,” she said.
“The cars will certainly be part of it, but it will be less of an object museum and more of a science museum centered on creativity, where we’ll teach about innovation and invention, and hopefully inspire future inventors and early entrepreneurs.”
The museum will include galleries dedicated to the neuroscience of creativity, and American innovation and entrepreneurship. The original 15-by-10-foot University of Florida lab where Gatorade was developed will be installed and furnished with some of the original flasks and beakers.
“We want to teach kids science by having them learn about innovation and invention,” Miles said.
